Iris Critchell

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_Cummings

Iris C. Cummings (December 21, 1920 – January 24, 2025) also known by her married name Iris Critchell, was an American aviator and former competition swimmer who represented the United States at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany. After an active athletic career in swimming, which included a reign as U.S. national 200-meter breaststroke champion from 1936 to 1939, she was accepted into the University of Southern California's first Civilian Pilot Training Program in 1939. After graduation, she worked as a flight instructor prior to being selected to serve her country during World War II as a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs). Following the conflict, she returned to California, where she developed and taught a curriculum on civilian flight for veterans returning from the war at the University of Southern California.

Cummings joined the Los Angeles Athletic Club (LAAC) in 1934 and received her first financial support in 1935, helping her attend that year's Far Western Championships. She captured the American national 200-meter breaststroke championship in 1936, which led to her participation in that year's Olympic trials and her selection as a member of the United States delegation to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin.

She was required, however, to raise her own funds for travel to the Games and spent much of her time leading up to the tournament collecting money rather than training. In the women's 200-meter breaststroke, she placed fourth in her heat in the opening round and was eliminated. Despite this, she remained as national champion in the event through 1939,[3] although she left the LAAC in 1937. She placed second at the 1939 National Championships and retired from active competition shortly after, deciding that the 1940 Summer Olympics were unlikely to occur. In 1941, she earned a degree in physical sciences and math from the University of Southern California

After racing airplanes competitively during the 1950s, Cummings and her husband, Howard Critchell, helped found the Bates Aeronautics program at Harvey Mudd College in 1962. They ran it together until he retired in 1979, at which point Iris continued alone until the program's end in 1990. A long-time certified FAA Pilot Examiner, she is the recipient of several international aviation awards and is a member of the National Flight Instructors Hall of Fame. In her later years, she has remained active as a lecturer, consultant, and curator of the Aeronautical Library Special Collections at Harvey Mudd.

As of 2025, Cummings was the last-known surviving participant of the 1936 Olympics and pre-war Olympics.[11] She died in Carlsbad, California on January 24, 2025, at the age of 104.[12][7]

• Residence: Redondo Beach, Los Angeles, California, United States - 1930
  • Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Jan 31 2025, 5:39:27 UTC

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References

1. Iris Cummings in the California Birth Index, 1905-1995 < AncestrySharing >
2. "California, County Birth and Death Records, 1800-1994", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGL4-ZCQH : Sun Mar 10 05:17:34 UTC 2024), Entry for Cummings and William Sennett Cummings, 21 December 1920.
3. "United States, Census, 1930", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XC8R-RD8 : Sat Mar 09 04:44:34 UTC 2024), Entry for William S Cummings and Serena Cummings, 1930.
4. "New York, New York Passenger and Crew Lists, 1909, 1925-1958", , FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:24JL-ZWF : Sun Mar 10 21:02:28 UTC 2024), Entry for Iris Cummings, 1932.
5. “Iris Cummings Critchell, 104, Dies; Olympic Swimmer Turned Aviator.” (Jan. 29, 2025) < nytimes.com >
6. https://archive.is/20121215015439/http://www.hmc.edu/newsandevents/...
7. https://cafriseabove.org/iris-cummings-critchell/
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_Cummings
9. https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Space:Women%27s_Airforce_Service_Pilots_(WASP)